The 17th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) officially opened in Ulan Bator, capital of Mongolia, on Monday.
Held under the theme “Restoring Land, Restoring Hope”, COP17 brings together 12,000 representatives from the UNCCD’s 197 Parties at a pivotal global forum aimed at accelerating action to combat desertification, land degradation and drought.
In his opening remarks, Mongolian Prime Minister Nyam- Osor Uchral said the world was entering a new era of collective decision-making on how to protect and restore the planet’s land resources and what kind of world to leave for future generations.
“It is now widely recognized that desertification, land degradation and drought are challenges that transcend national borders and require a collective response from humanity,” Uchral said.
“We need greater efforts now to turn commitments to combat desertification and land degradation into concrete action, supported by adequate financing, technology and institutional frameworks. Therefore, COP17 should not be a conference that simply repeats decisions and declarations from previous meetings, but one that accelerates their implementation,” he noted.
The high-level segment of COP17 will feature ministerial dialogues, while the broader programme includes multistakeholder forums and thematic discussions on science-policy integration, innovation and solutions, tools and technologies, and financing. The programme also features four thematic days focusing on finance, water, land and people, and food systems and soil health. — Xinhua
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